Juvenille Diabetes Research foundation describe how it helps the community - Essay Example

JDRF facilitates research to identify ways to gain maximum results with least inconvenience to the individuals suffering from diabetes. A lot of children as well as adults in our country are suffering from obesity. To make it worse, obesity comes with numerous side-effects including high blood pressure and diabetes. Research conducted by JDRF tends to find cure for such diseases as diabetes and high blood pressure. “JDRF is committed to improving the lives of the type 1 diabetes community by keeping you informed about the latest developments in type 1 diabetes research and by providing a range of support services to help you from initial diagnosis through to managing life with type 1 diabetes” (JDRF b).

Thus, JDRF not only targets the direct effects of obesity like individual’s looks, consciousness and self-perceptions but also the symptoms and health conditions indirectly associated with obesity. I place so much confidence in JDRF because it has made a lot of difference in the life of my own younger sister, Maria. When Maria was 5 years old, she was diagnosed with obesity by JDRF. We thought she had just put on a few extra pounds that would be gone with a little bit of dieting. It was not until JDRF confirmed she was obese that we stopped thinking she was just overweight.

To our surprise, JDRF took Maria’s tests and informed us that she was having type 1 diabetes. We could not imagine a girl as young as 5 years old would be having diabetes! Since I am emotionally too attached to Maria, this came to me as nothing less than a shock. Back then, I couldn’t imagine how awful life would be if I had to live without sugar. JDRF proposed that we took immediate measures to alter Maria’s eating habits and walkout patterns in order to do our bit to make her future secure.

Mom, dad and I decided that if Maria was not going to consume sugar, so would be we! Now that about 8 years have passed since then, everything has changed for the better. What came as a shock to all of us 8 years back proved to be a forewarning with the passage of time! When JDRF diagnosed Maria with those diseases, they not only tested Dad, Mom and me for the same health hazards, but also took notes about what we ate, how often we ate, when we ate and why we ate whatever we did. They informed us that they would use that information for research purposes.

We assisted them in all ways we could because it felt like a way to do our little bit in the well-being of the whole society through JDRF. At the time when Maria was diagnosed with obesity and type 1 diabetes, mama and I were also overweight. JDRF told us that we were quite likely to become obese within few years from then if we continued with the same dietary and exercise habits. For about 8 years since then, Maria, mom, dad and I have had no chocolates, no carbonated drinks, no deep fried foods, no Big Macs and no junk food.

Since the time we consulted JDRF, we have placed full emphasis of living upon fresh foods and vegetables. We have been going for a walk every morning and it has become a very important part of out everyday life, and we did gain positive results! Maria has recently tested negative for type 1 diabetes. All of us are in perfect shape. Today, when I look myself into the mirror, I become overwhelmed to see how nice I look and much of this is due to my smartness. We are grateful to JDRF that they informed us about the potential risks just in time so that we were able to take